E160 Tom Swales Positive Outlook and Physio

Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 160
Date: February 18, 2025

Participants: John Webster, Isabelle Sinclair and Sheila Webster
Guest: Tom Swales

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:17] What’s On Your Mind: Reading fiction benefits our wellbeing. Examples include breaking from the world of data and social media and sharing experiences of characters vicariously.

[0:11:30] Expanding Minds Interview: [Mental and Physical Wellness] Tom Swales talks about the importance of belief systems in the physical rehabilitation process. You see it in your head before you can do something. If you can see yourself doing it, then you’ve already pre-set your biology and nervous system and psychology that you have an end goal. You just need to reverse engineer how to do it. Then you need to find the best way to do it without hurting yourself. That’s where health professionals and coaches come in. Mindset is important. People who have more of a positive outlook will have far less pain than someone who has a negative outlook. When Tom kids say I can’t do something, he tells them, “If you believe you can, you’re right. If you believe you can’t, you’re right. Either way, you’re right. I’d rather that you choose that you can, then find out if you cannot and then make adjustments.”

[0:30:32] Flipside of the Coin: Sheila said a couple years ago that she would start saying “no” sometimes, because she always said “yes” when asked to do things. It took time, but she’s finally starting to do that and to see the benefits.

Quotes and Take-Aways:

Tom – Your beliefs come before your ability. You see it in your head before you can do something. If you can see yourself doing it, then you’ve already pre-set your biology and nervous system and psychology that you have an end goal. You just need to reverse engineer how to do it. Then you need to find the best way to do it without hurting yourself. That’s where health professionals and coaches come in.

Tom – Changing a person’s belief or perspective from what they can’t do to what they can do is the first step on the right path on where they want to go, whether in eliminating pain or improving function or getting to a higher level of performance.

Tom – A diagnosis can be good, because it helps us to communicate, including with other professionals. However, patients may start to catastrophize on the diagnosis and then they start to become the diagnosis. It becomes part of their personality and who they are. Once they draw an attachment to this diagnosis, it’s very hard to let go of that.

Tom – Mindset is important. People who have more of a positive outlook will have far less pain than someone who has a negative outlook. Take the car accident example. The person who causes the accident will recover from injuries with not pain. likelihood of chronic pain goes up tenfold for the person who is the victim, on the receiving end. There can be a shift of blame on the person who caused the accident. They can’t let go the blame.

Tom – When my kids say I can’t do something, I tell them, “If you believe you can, you’re right. If you believe you can’t, you’re right. Either way, you’re right. I’d rather that you choose that you can, then find out if you cannot and then make adjustments.”

Guest Information: Tom Swales earned his Bachelor of Arts in Athletic Training and later completed his Master of Physiotherapy at the University of Western Ontario. He secured advanced certifications in areas such as manual therapy, strength and conditioning, acupuncture, and neurology. Tom’s expertise is highly sought after by health professionals looking to improve their practice in areas like injury prevention, rehabilitation, and performance training. He’s a trusted clinician and mentor in orthopedic healthcare. He’s the Founder of the Advanced Movement Therapist (AMT) Certification. He’s Passionate about empowering health professionals with practical, results-driven education.
Instagram: @swales.tom
Facebook: Advanced Movement Therapy System
Website: amtcertified.ca
YouTube: @Tommyswales

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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-)   Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura, Julie and Riley